As a former bigwig at Marvel Entertainment, Arad was one of Hollywood's biggest producers, working on the biggest films with the biggest budgets -- and exhibiting a vision that prompted Wired magazine to hail him last year as "the man who launched the superhero craze."

But that was before Arad resigned from Marvel Studios in mid-2006 to focus on his new eponymous production company.

Now, he has brought his latest production -- a film based on the popular remote-controlled Robosapien robot toy -- to the moviemaking boomtown of New Orleans.

"Robosapien: Rebooted" is a departure in a lot of ways for Arad. First, it's not for Marvel Studios -- with which he still has a relationship, in the form of a string of forthcoming films he's producing, from "Thor" to "Silver Surfer" to "Captain America" to "Spider-Man 4."

The film 'Robosapien: Rebooted' -- currently shooting in New Orleans -- is based on the popular Robosapien remote-controlled toy.

It also has a smaller budget -- in the neighborhood of $15 million -- than the films to which he's usually attached. But if his track record is any indication, it could be a big success for Hollywood South.

Calling recently from his West Coast office, Arad said "Robosapien," which has been shooting around town for the past four weeks, has been a film he's wanted to make for a long time.

"I've always wanted to do a 'Pinocchio' story with robots," Arad said. "I've been designing robots forever, and I like the idea of a 21st-century 'Pinocchio' story, and that's what this movie is about."

More specifically, what "Robosapien" is about is a boy -- played by 10-year-old Bobby Coleman, of 2007's "Martian Child" -- who befriends an advanced robot. After the two bond, greedy corporate interests come after the robot, and Coleman's character does whatever he can to short-circuit their pursuit and protect his new silicon-based buddy.

There's a definite family-friendly vibe to the project -- Coleman's on-screen sister is played by his real-life sister, Holliston Coleman, in fact -- but Arad said "Robosapien" is still a superhero film in many respects.

"It's about the family and about a boy, and the robot represents something outside of the natural that comes into their lives," Arad said, drawing a parallel to more conventional superhero stories. Besides, he said, "¤'Superhero' is about what's inside you, where the courage comes from, where the conviction comes from."

Arad was familiar with New Orleans from his trips here for the National Association of Television Program Executives conventions in the late ''80s and ''90s, and he chose the city as the backdrop for "Robosapien" to take advantage of tax breaks and the scenery.

Once New Orleans was picked as the shooting location for the film -- directed by Sean McNamara and set for a 2009 release -- the script was rewritten to set the story in the Crescent City, to take full advantage of what it had to offer.

A group of extras working on a Carnival scene for the film 'Robosapien: Rebooted' relax along Napoleon Avenue.

"We went through the pages, and we said, 'OK, let's make the movie location-based, because the city's so beautiful,' " Arad said. "You look at these little houses in Algiers -- I mean, those are like jewelry boxes."

Last week, the production staged a faux Carnival parade on Napoleon Avenue, through which the main characters were pursued. The French Quarter figures prominently in other scenes, Arad said.

And this could be just the beginning of a mutually profitable relationship between Arad and New Orleans.

"I would absolutely love to come back," he said. "We will come back."

Movie writer Mike Scott can be reached at (504) 826-3444 or mscott@times picayune.com.